Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work - Chapter 129

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Even If I Fall Into a Ghost Story, I Still Have to Go to Work Episode 129

A moment later.

I called the number Eun Ha-je had given me.

The internal company number that connected to Director Ho’s private office.

[Hello.]

“…!”

“Good day, Director Ho.”

From the moment the call connected, the supervisors kept their mouths shut and remained silent.

I continued speaking as politely as possible without showing any agitation.

“This is Kim Sol-eum, the team leader who went missing a month ago. I’ve finally escaped from the darkness and am contacting you.”

[Wow. Hello, Sol-eum! Have you been well for the past month?]

An unnaturally calm greeting came back.

The slightly cheerful and warm tone, as if talking to a long-lost customer, sent chills down my spine instead.

This was absolutely not the kind of reaction someone should have when an employee who was declared dead suddenly calls.

‘This isn’t normal.’

Director Cheong Dal-rae would have been better, but she wasn’t in a situation where I could contact her right now.

So I listened to Director Ho’s words.

[I’m so relieved you didn’t pass away. My heart feels good knowing you seem to be safe.]

“Thank you.”

[But wouldn’t it be troublesome for you? If you return like this, the point loss would be significant….]

As expected, he knows everything.

‘He’s talking on the premise that the company will charge me costs.’

Even though as a Development Department director he could easily prevent this, Director Ho only seemed worried in words and showed no intention of helping at all.

Of course, I hadn’t expected it anyway.

What I had prepared for was….

“Yes. That’s why I have something to discuss with you.”

I deliberately paused for a beat and asked calmly.

“Director. Is the project joining proposal you offered me previously still valid?”

….

[Wow, Sol-eum.]

[You’ve really had a great idea!]

A bright voice poured into my ears.

[You want to join my project and have the entire month of disappearance processed as some kind of confidential work that occurred while conducting the project, with the condition that there be no point loss, right?]

Chills ran down my spine.

Eun Ha-je clenched her fists beside me.

[What a wonderful idea!]

I couldn’t bring myself to say ‘thank you.’

Beyond the point of being happy that we communicated well, he was like some kind of monster.

[And of course, it’s possible.]

“Thank….”

[So from now on, Team Leader Kim Sol-eum is a member of Director Ho Yu-won’s new project team, and this is clearly an acceptance that will remain on the call record. Welcome!]

“….”

I felt like I was being forced to stamp a contract after looking at a defective property for 5 minutes, with the deal about to be completed by accident.

“I’m truly grateful for your generous words. However, I was merely trying to ask for your wise opinion, not to immediately express my intention to participate….”

[Ah, that’s understandable.]

[Then shall we meet once?]

“…I would be truly grateful if you would, but as you know, I’m currently in a situation where it’s difficult to visit the company to see you.”

[Ah, of course that’s the case? I was already thinking it would be good to meet somewhere else.]

Surprisingly generous words came out.

‘…Where does he want to meet?’

I was vaguely thinking of a private dining room or something similar when.

[Fox Counseling Room.]

“…!”

What did he say?

[How about it? Wouldn’t it be warm and nice?]

[I’ll send you the door nameplate through Eun Ha-je.]

“….”

We slowly turned to look at Eun Ha-je.

‘She definitely said she received work that required avoiding other employees.’

Director Ho was acting as if he knew Eun Ha-je was here, just like that….

[Please wait just a moment, I would appreciate it.]

“…Yes. I’m the one who should be grateful.”

With kind and polite farewell greetings, the call with the director ended.

And immediately after.

Ring ring ring!

Eun Ha-je’s phone rang.

She immediately showed us the name that appeared on her smartphone once before answering.

[Director Ho Yu-won]

“….”

“Yes. Yes…. Mm. I understand. I’ll return right away.”

Click.

“You heard that? She’s not an ordinary person.”

Deputy Eun Ha-je sighed in exasperation as she pulled her smartphone away from her face.

“Fox Counseling Room, really… She’ll probably say something flowery like ‘Soleum might be having a hard time with contamination, so let’s have some counseling and chat together,’ but in reality, she’s just trying to control the situation.”

“….”

“Noru.”

Deputy Eun Ha-je lowered her smartphone with a disgusted expression.

“Even if it takes a detour, my firm opinion is that it’s better not to do Director Ho’s project. It’s a shame about the points, but… damn it.”

In the end, the deputy ran her hands through her hair and sighed.

It was probably because she knew how precious points were to Field Investigation Team members, being no different from life itself….

“I’ll bring the nameplate for now, so don’t give in easily and try to slip away cleverly without getting dragged along by the director. …You’re pretty good with words, so I trust you.”

“Yes.”

I nodded.

“I’ll be careful and listen to what she has to say.”

“Good.”

A little later.

I received the item Director Ho had promised from Deputy Eun Ha-je, who had gone to the company.

The nameplate that was now quite familiar to my eyes.

Fox Counseling Room

‘Phew.’

“Noru. If the atmosphere feels bad, just run away!”

“Thank you, Team Leader.”

I received encouragement and advice from my supervisors as I hung the nameplate on a random door.

And after a very long time, I opened the door to the Fox Counseling Room and went inside….

Creak.

“….”

Previously, there had definitely been a changing room here, but this time I saw a different space instead.

‘A waiting room?’

It was a small space where you could chat and wait before counseling or take psychological tests.

The ivory-colored space with a few tables and chairs made of cypress wood had a quaint, simple charm, but the door leading to the actual counseling room was firmly closed.

And the notice posted above the door.

Closed today *^^*

(Please take your nameplate back!)

‘Wait, if this is the case….’

Tap tap.

“Hello, Soleum!”

I nearly fainted.

I turned my head. I saw a young man with a kind face who had tapped my shoulder….

Director Ho bowed to me with a benevolent smile.

“It’s perfect that the Fox Counseling Center is closed today! No one else will come in either. How is it, are you comfortable?”

“…Yes. Thank you.”

How on earth did Director Ho know that the counseling center in the ghost story was closed?

‘It seems like she’s hinting that she has some kind of connection with the Fox Counseling Room.’

Let’s not dig into this point unnecessarily for now.

I need to stay focused on the main issue.

What I need is point recovery.

“Shall we sit down then?”

“Yes. Thank you.”

Anyway, I ended up sitting in a comfortable waiting room chair, facing the director.

It wasn’t a very realistic scene.

‘Phew.’

I made tea bag green tea provided in the waiting room and placed it in front of the director. The director did express gratitude, but beyond that, she didn’t say anything else and just kept smiling cheerfully.

‘She won’t start the conversation first.’

In that case.

“Director. Thinking about someone as lacking as myself joining the project, I have some concerns….”

“My goodness, to think you’d feel that way. What concerns might you have? I definitely heard over the phone that you were interested.”

Stay calm.

‘Right now, I’m an outsider who’s been processed for resignation.’

Bluntly speaking, if I don’t return, I’ll just become a civilian, so the director’s pressure isn’t as strong as before.

It’s right to say what needs to be said.

I clasped my hands together and spoke.

“Yes. I’m afraid I might die.”

“…!”

“Losing points is painful, but if I die before collecting all the points, it’s all meaningless.”

“Ah.”

“If it’s more dangerous than the existing Field Investigation Team, doing the project feels like a very frightening thing…. I’m also considering just returning to work or resigning.”

“I see. Wow. You’re really smart!”

“….”

Is she being sarcastic?

But the director only answered sincerely with an unreadably benevolent expression.

“And I think that’s a good question. ‘Is Director Ho’s internal confidential project more dangerous than the Field Investigation Team?'”

“….”

“My answer to that is….”

Director Ho smiled slightly.

“‘It’s not dangerous.’ The survival rate might actually be higher.”

“…!!”

“Oh, of course depending on the work, there could be more dangerous cases probabilistically… but at least the work I’m proposing to you right now definitely isn’t.”

“…You probably can’t tell me specifically.”

“That’s right. That’s all I can tell you.”

Director Ho looked at me as if feeling sorry, then added in a gentle tone.

“But I can definitely assure you that it’s a better situation than before, with high survival rate work!”

“….”

“So, will you join the project now? By the way… from next time, our personnel will be completely finalized, so we won’t be able to accept new people.”

She’s completely making it clear that this is the last chance.

I looked at Director Ho, deliberately took a few seconds as if agonizing, then….

I nodded.

“I want to do it.”

“Oh! Very good.”

Not ‘will do’ but ‘want to do’.

Words that allow me to back out until the very end if necessary. But fortunately, Director Ho applauded and was pleased.

He was so pleased that he refilled warm water himself and placed green tea in front of me.

I wasn’t grateful at all and was trembling with fear….

“You’ve really made a good choice. Really, I told you the working conditions would actually be better.”

“…Working conditions, you say.”

“Yes. You’ll be more comfortable.”

The director smiled with narrowed eyes while drinking green tea.

“If you’ve been in the darkness for a whole month, you must have suffered greatly, and entering high-grade darkness again would be difficult for you.”

The director speaks in a benevolent tone.

“I thought it would be good for you to try something interesting.”

Somewhere.

There was a subtle nuance.

“…Something interesting, I see.”

“Yes! So, the work that Sol-eum will do is….”

And then the absurd ‘Kim Sol-eum’s duties’ came out casually.

“Infiltrating the Disaster Management Bureau.”

“…!!”

“I think they also call this being a spy?”

Director Ho winked.

“Infiltrate with the identity of a new agent who passed the public exam, with a very clean background… blend in and live there as an agent.”

Good heavens.

“And from there, you just need to find and bring back information about a certain supernatural disaster they’re managing. Simple, right?”

I swallowed.

“What kind of supernatural disaster do you want me to find?”

Director Ho raised his eyebrows slightly, then smiled warmly again.

“Instead of asking how to do it, you’re asking about the target first. As expected.”

“….”

“We’ll let you know that gradually. For now, successfully infiltrating is what’s important….”

Director Ho looks at me with strange eyes.

“In my opinion, there’s no one more suitable than you, Sol-eum.”

“….”

Did he find out?

That I had quite a bit of contact with the Disaster Management Bureau.

And that I possess items belonging to them.

I tried not to be conscious of the silver heart still in my pocket.

‘Director Ho seemed to hate the Disaster Management Bureau tremendously.’

Let me just keep my mouth shut for now.

Because Director Ho’s shocking statements didn’t end there.

“And since you might be lonely alone, other people will be deployed together with you.”

Excuse me?

“…Who do you mean?”

I momentarily thought of Agent Eun Ha-je, but a completely unexpected answer came back.

“Two of Team Leader Sol-eum’s colleagues.”

“…!!”

“Would you like to see?”

I checked the page of documents the director handed me, all blurred out with only names and affiliations visible.

Field Investigation Team R Group Go Young-eun (Employee)

Field Investigation Team F Group Jang Heo-un (Employee)

…Among my colleagues, two names that seem to be picked for having personalities that the Disaster Management Bureau would accept are written there….

“Now, Sol-eum.”

Director Ho smiles brightly.

“I look forward to your wonderful performance as a Disaster Management Bureau agent spy!”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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